I just finished what seems like a million years of education. Pre-K all the way to a Bachelors in History and a Masters in General Education. I am now officially a certified Social Studies teacher for grades 7-12in New York state and elsewhere.

However! The job market for teachers sucks right now. In New York, there have been huge budget cuts and more teachers are being fired than hired. I have been substitute call lists for a number of school districts since December, but because I am the new guy, I'm at the bottom of the list and have never gotten called. (I take that back, I was called once, but then that school was closed for the day because of snow.)

To be completely honest, especially after getting through college and having a tough time in grad school, I don't want to go back into the classroom right away. Granted, I'll be teaching and grading papers this time around instead of writing them/ taking tests, etc..... but I don't really want to go back to that right now.

On top of all this, my parents are business owners (recycling company). My dad is trying to suck me into the family business so I can take over from him in the future. My mom is totally stressed out by the business and is pushing me away and pressuring me into being a teacher. (To her credit, she wants me to work in a job that my level of education qualifies me for) Until I find a teaching job, or find something else to do, I work 6 days a week for my parents from 7am until 4:30pm.

Moving on! My girlfriend is a youngin and has one more year of undergrad left. She wants me to move up to Albany (I live in Poughkeepsie... about an hour and a half away).

With all of this going on, I'm interested in being a Residential Coordinator in college dorms (I was an RA as an undergrad)... Considering how often I travel to Italy, I also think it would be really cool to work in an embassy as a diplomat. (I heard about that 27yo Qatari junior diplomat who was smoking on an airplane/ joked that he was lighting his shoe bombs... if that ******* can be a diplomat, I can too!) Finally, I would kill to work for AC Milan somehow...

I think I'm going to continue to wait things out and work for my parents (they pay me really well). I'm also going to continue waiting for substitute teaching calls... (I have a seminar on April 30th for a local school district. More or less they have people come in before they hire them as subs, and they brief them on professional etiquette and sexual harassment, etc. in that particular school district) but in general, I'm eager to move on!

Be thankful you actually have a job (not saying you are not). I would keep working there for the immediate future and just let them know your plans are not long-term. See what comes up in the next few years.

The big U.S. central defender, who's been out of action since October, told Insider on Friday that his injured left knee is "close to 100 percent," and that he's still hoping to make his Serie A debut in AC Milan's final month of league play.

But he says he's taking extra care not to come back too fast and jeopardize his chances not only with Milan, but with the national team at the World Cup.

"Things are going really well," says Onyewu, whose original prognosis after the injury in the final qualifying match against Costa Rica was at least a six-month recovery period. "Everything is still ahead of schedule in terms of the whole process."

But he adds, "We're being very cautious."

Other players, including Jermaine Jones and Maurice Edu, have hurt themselves by coming back too soon from injuries. Onyewu understands the impulse to hurry back, but won't take any chances. "It's happened to so many people," he says. "You want to get out there and do your job, but your body might feel better than it actually is."

So despite having been able to work out on a limited basis with the national team ahead of the squad's friendly in Amsterdam in early March, Onyewu is being extra deliberate.

Earlier this month, he visited Los Angeles, where he was evaluated by Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, the physician who operated on his torn patellar tendon. "I went there so he could take a look before the last phase of the whole rehab, before I start in with field training and doing everything with the ball," he said. "The surgeon knows better than anyone else how things are supposed to look."

And for now, things are looking up -- though Onyewu is cagey about when he'll be back in full training.

"I'm not going to put any deadlines on anything," he said, "but right now, I'm fine-tuning. I'm just about ready."

Notes

• About a dozen players vying for a spot on the 23-man World Cup squad went the distance for their club teams in Europe, MLS or Mexico over the weekend -- pretty good considering mainstays Tim Howard (Everton), DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers) were idle and Onyewu, Stuart Holden, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Charlie Davies all remain sidelined with injures. The list of 90-minuters includes keeper Marcus Hahnemann; defenders Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit and Clarence Goodson; mids Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan and Jose Torres; and forwards Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey and Herculez Gomez. Heck, even Freddy Adu played all of Aris' 2-1 Greek league loss at Asteras.

• Future Nat Watch: Check former Wake Forest standout Zack Schilawski's impressive 12-minute hat trick in New England's 4-1 rout of Toronto FC on Saturday. Schilawski became just the third MLS rookie to score three in one game. The others were former national teamers Pat Noonan (Revs, 2003) and Brian Maisonneuve (Columbus Crew, 1996).

I'll make him be one of of those stadium stewards that has to sit facing the crowd and is not allowed to watch the game.

Does anyone know how Onyewu is doing? They had something about him on ESPN the other day, but it was for "insiders only".

Oh hell no! Every single game I watch, I literally frown or say something when ever they show those stewards. Has to be a ****ty job if you love the game. Especially the big clubs and you do that for every home match? That'd piss me off! I could do it..for a big fat check.